Friday Flashback — The Public Face of God

“There are no gods, no devils, no angels, no heaven or hell. There is only our natural world. Religion is but myth and superstition that hardens hearts and enslaves minds.”

This is the wording upon a sign allowed by Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire to grace the state capitol building in Olympia. The sign rests along side the traditional Xmas season nativity scene.

I find it a little awkward defending public Christian symbolism as a Jew in a country famous for its separation of church and state, but Bill O’Reilly has it right when he brands this kind of moral equivalence (masquerading as respect for the First Amendment) as an attack not upon Christianity but upon the foundations of morality.

It’s with this in mind that I offer a look back on what I wrote concerning the name of God in the Pledge of Allegiance and the heart of a matter that transcends religious sectarianism.